A Perfect Activity for Family Night

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Family Night Bingo I never want to miss out on the fun. I over-book our sweet family to a fault. Thank goodness my husband ropes us in for down time. So, when Friday night’s busy schedule would not allow us to attend the school’s family bingo night, the kids felt disappointed. I felt defeated. All our friends were going to be there. Really?! We cannot be in two places at one time!? What? Aghh! Then I put my thinking cap on. I turned the knob to “problem solving while making everyone happy” mode. After a few minutes, the discovery bulb lit up: BINGO! We could still enjoy that fun. Better yet, we would do it on our own time as a family. Perfect!

The Seven P’s to Family Night Bingo: Family Night Bingo- Helping Hands

  1. Plan an evening that can be blocked out for at least two hours with no interruptions. (It helps to pick this time with your spouse… Trust me! He might need to work or watch his favorite team on a night you choose.)
  2. Promote that specific day and time to your kids. Get them all pumped about it. Mark it on the calendar for them to see. Let them know there will be prizes. Maybe even invite friends, neighbors, or grandparents to join. (We invited my Dad to play. He helped with our three-year-old. He slightly marked the numbers for her that were called. Then she colored them in at her own speed. Precious.)
  3. Purchase an inexpensive Bingo set at a local store or online. (Target sells one for about $10.)
  4. Pick out small awards. Have enough for game winners plus extras for ties and consolation gifts. When a child (or adult) doesn’t win a game, he or she will most likely get sad. Let him or her choose a prize at the end just for playing. Pick items for both kids and adults i.e. bubbles and gift cards, respectively.
  5. Prepare photo copies of the game boards from the purchased set or print out pre-made ones online. You more than likely do not want to use the plastic number covers provided in the set. Big and little arms will accidentally bump them out-of-place. Make sure the same board is not used by multiple players in the same game. Otherwise, everyone will win at the same time. Gather pencils, crayons, or highlighters for marking the copies or print-outs. Family Night Bingo- Game Boards
  6. Provide pizza. Whether you make it, bake it, or order it, simply enjoy an easy dinner together beforehand. Serve on paper plates for an even quicker clean-up.
  7. Play away! There are so many fun ways to BINGO. The most common is having five numbers in a row, in a column, or on the diagonal. There is also getting all B’s and O’s, to which the winner yells “I have BO.” So gross, yet so funny! Blackout is a completely filled number board. Get a “T” or an “X”. Four corners speaks for itself. Games can be as fast or as slow as needed.

Family Night Bingo- Winning Smiles

Be creative and have fun making family night a Perfect BINGO!

Do you have more ideas for family night? Would love to hear them in the comments.